The Moss Trade
The Patriots made another big move this week, trading Randy Moss to the team that drafted him, the Minnesota Vikings. It was surprising to some, but inevitable to others. Teams don't normally trade a future Hall of Fame receiver like Moss four weeks into the season, but the Patriots aren't a normal team. You can look back to last year, when they traded all-pro Defensive Lineman Richard Seymour to the Raiders just six days before the start of the season. They saw Seymour as past his peak, and decided to get good trade value while they still could. With Moss, it's a little different. Moss was a distraction in the locker room, he used press conferences as sympathy pleas for a new contract. The Patriots have been anticipating a trade though, you can see by their play. The Patriots have been playing a lot more snaps with two Tight End formations with the emerging Aaron Hernandez and fellow rookie Rob Gronkowski. For Moss to complain though, it's ridiculous. Now in Minnesota, he has the exact same contract, the only difference being the Vikings promise not to label him with the franchise tag at the end of the season. That allows the ever so faithful Moss to bolt at the end of the year (when Favre likely retires) to the highest bidder, much like when he left the Vikings the first time around in 2004, but this time, they won't get anything in return (The Raiders gave up a first round draft pick and Linebacker Napoleon Harris for his services).
Looking at the likeliest highest bidders for Moss, is there any doubt he doesn't sign with the Redskins? Owner Dan Snyder has splashed the cash many times in the past, and he won't hesitate to sign a true elite player like Moss. The Redskins need receivers, and McNabb almost managed to get Moss to join him in Philadelphia in 2009, so they will probably gel easily (Moss and Owens comparisons a plenty).
What do the Patriots do now? Well, they need a receiver, a veteran to line up outside. They can't expect the inexperienced Brandon Tate to fill in for Moss right away, so a pick-up of someone Brady knows and trusts like Deion Branch or Reche Caldwell would certainly help. I don't think the trade really affects Welker. Welker's play is normally a six yard gain per reception. He's a player that just chips and chips away at the defence, and rarely ever stretches the field. Tight End Aaron Hernandez will likely be the guy that stretches the field, which he's already started to do (three receptions over twenty yards, two over forty yards).
Kevin Kolb's Second Half Play vs. Redskins
I decided to take a look at what Kolb did in the second half against the Redskins this past week due to the fact most people buried his play. Down 17-6, the Eagles were primed to throw a lot, and Kolb struggled to an extent. It's not all his fault though. The offensive line play has been rather woeful for the Eagles this season, so the fault is shared by a lot of different players. Also, it can be hard for a Quarterback to adjust to a game he hasn't started.
- Kolb was nearly intercepted on three plays, two were bad throws, the other he was forced to scramble due to bad blocking.
- The Redskins defensive line didn't blitz once, but still managed to sack Kolb once. Bad blocking forced him out of the pocket, he tried to scramble, but was immediately tackled by Andre Carter.
- A lot of Kolb's throws were shovel passes, screens and short dump offs to Running Backs due to the fact the Redskins were only rushing four players at most on every play. Receivers like Jackson, Maclin and Avant were tied up, leaving Kolb to throw under for small to medium gains all day long.
- Left Tackle Jason Peters was ABUSED by Brian Orakpo. Orakpo forced Peters into holding him on a Kolb thirty-two yard scramble that was brought back.
- Kolb missed a lot of wide-open guys, notably frustrating to Maclin, who showed his colours on the sidelines after a replay showed he was wide open, while Kolb threw short of a first down.
- The touchdown was Kolb's only real successful throw of the day. He went to his safety blanket, Tight End Brent Celek, and threw a tight spiral over Linebacker London Fletcher into Celek's waiting hands, who was also being covered by Rocky McIntosh.
- With thirty seconds to play, the most perplexing and poignant play of the day occurred. The Eagles were third-and-one at their own thirty-five, and looking at the play-by-play (K.Kolb pass short right to 87-B.Celek to PHI 45 for 10 yards), you would think it was just a normal play. Well it wasn't. Not by a long shot. The play demonstrated the frailties of the Eagles Offensive Line. Six players stayed in to block the Redskins THREE MAN RUSH, and all three guys got thisclose to Kolb, nearly sacking him. Alas, Kolb managed to get the throw off. The genius of the play was what the Redskins Defensive Line actually did. Albert Haynesworth lined up as the fourth rusher, so Eagles linemen Todd Herremans and Mike McGlynn went to double team him. But instead of rushing the passer, Haynesworth dropped back, catching Herremans and McGlynn off their guard. That made it three good pass-rushers on four, and the confusion amongst the Offensive Line nearly caused their Quarterback to be sacked. Had they got to him, I'd say it was the best defensive play I'd seen this season, but Kolb just got the throw off in time. Kudos to Mike Shanahan for the idea though.
- With twenty-seven seconds to go, Kolb overthrew McCoy. The incompletion? Nothing. The fact that DeSean Jackson was wide open ten-yards further down field? Disastrous.
The final play of the game is the perfect example of how pundits and writers judge a player's performance. Kolb was trashed by the media to an extent, but had the final play resulted in a touchdown, he would have been lauded for his great play. Kolb sends up a Hail Mary towards Celek and Jason Avant. Avant gets his hands on it, but drops it into the hands of DeAngelo Hall. Ballgame. If Avant completes the catch, it's a completely different story. Sure, criticism would still come in on Kolb's overall play, but the Eagles would be 3-1, and not 2-2. This has resulted in many writers picking the 49ers to beat the Eagles, when in my opinion, I see the Eagles performing well against the fledgeling Niners.
At the end of the day though, the Eagles lost, and the most important factor was the way the Redskins defence smothered the Eagles offense into short throws. Per @movingthechains (Sheil Kapadia of philly.com), “73% of Kolb's attempts travelled five yards or less from the line of scrimmage. Take away the final drive, and that's 84%.”
The Bears Offensive Line
The G-Men sacked Jay Cutler NINE times last Sunday night, setting the record for most sacks in a half of football. The ninth and final sack on Cutler put him on the sidelines for the rest of the game and this week's upcoming game against Carolina. So here's a blow-by-blow (sorry, Jay) of each sack, highlighting exactly where the play went wrong.
1. The Play: 3-10-CHI 39 (13:36) 6-J.Cutler sacked at CHI 35 for -4 yards (72-O.Umenyiora).
Snap-to-Sack: 3.945 seconds
Blockers vs. Rushers: 6 vs. 4
What Happened: Umenyiora performs a swim move, and blows through Brandon Manumaleuna, the Tight End Chicago brought in especially for his BLOCKING.
Hilarious note: LG Roberto Garza blocked NO ONE.
2. The Play: 1-10-MIDFIELD (10:11) 6-J.Cutler sacked at CHI 41 for -9 yards (99-C.Canty).
Snap-to-Sack: 3.160 seconds
Blockers vs. Rushers: 6 vs. 4
What Happened: Chris Canty just about kills Roberto Garza.
3. The Play: 3-7-CHI 31 (14:27) (Shotgun) 6-J.Cutler sacked at CHI 22 for -9 yards (72-O.Umenyiora). FUMBLES (72-O.Umenyiora), recovered by CHI-57-O.Kreutz at CHI 23. 57-O.Kreutz to CHI 29 for 6 yards (96-B.Cofield). Officially, a sack for 2 yards.
Snap-to-Sack: 3.784 seconds
Blockers vs. Rushers: 7 vs. 4
What Happened: The Bears put GREG OLSEN on Osi Umenyiora. Why?! Olsen immediately panics and fails at a chop block.
4. The Play: 1-10-CHI 35 (11:25) 6-J.Cutler sacked at CHI 28 for -7 yards (91-J.Tuck). FUMBLES (91-J.Tuck), recovered by CHI-22-M.Forte at CHI 23. 22-M.Forte to CHI 23 for no gain (99-C.Canty). Officially, a sack for 12 yards.
Snap-to-Sack: 3.878 seconds
Blockers vs. Rushers: 7 vs. 4
What Happened: Another failed blocking assignment by Manumaleuna. Tuck just steals his lunch money.
5. The Play: 3-19-CHI 26 (9:59) (Shotgun) 6-J.Cutler sacked at CHI 23 for -3 yards (72-O.Umenyiora). FUMBLES (72-O.Umenyiora), touched at CHI 25, RECOVERED by NYG-34-D.Grant at CHI 29. 34-D.Grant to CHI 29 for no gain (80-E.Bennett). Officially, a sack for 1 yard.
Snap-to-Sack: 3.845 seconds
Blockers vs. Rushers: 6 vs. 4
What Happened: Osi just blows by backup Left Tackle Frank Omiyale. He didn't have a chance.
6. The Play: 2-7-CHI 23 (7:05) 6-J.Cutler sacked ob at CHI 21 for -2 yards (sack split by 54-J.Goff and 96-B.Cofield).
Snap-to-Sack: N/A
Blockers vs. Rushers: 8 (EIGHT) vs. 4
What Happened: I didn't include the snap-to-sack time as Cutler scrambled out of the pocket. Eight guys against four though? There are no excuses for a play of negative yards.
7. The Play: 3-9-CHI 21 (6:26) 6-J.Cutler sacked at CHI 12 for -9 yards (91-J.Tuck).
Snap-to-Sack: 3.887 seconds
Blockers vs. Rushers: 7 vs. 4
What Happened: The Offensive Line disintigrated and Right Tackle Kevin Shaffer just seemed to give up, enabling Justin Tuck to dive at Cutler.
8. The Play: 1-10-CHI 48 (5:07) 6-J.Cutler sacked at CHI 39 for -9 yards (96-B.Cofield).
Snap-to-Sack: 2.818 seconds
Blockers vs. Rushers: 7 vs. 4
What Happened: Just an awful, awful attempt at blocking by Right Guard Lance Louis. Cofield just walks through him.
9. The Play: 1-10-CHI 19 (:58) 6-J.Cutler sacked at CHI 12 for -7 yards (31-A.Ross).
Snap-to-Sack: 3.197 seconds
Blockers vs. Rushers: 5 vs. 5
What Happened: The first play where Cutler is protected by the same number of guys coming after him? Of course he was gonna be sacked. Olsen goes into a route, leaving his man, Ross, to just go uncovered to Cutler. Ross wraps him up and dumps Cutler, smacking his head into the turf.
Result: A concussion for Cutler, and the Bears first loss of the season. On the eight timed snap-to-sacks, Cutler received on average 3.56 seconds to get the ball out. That's just not enough.
Before the season started, I wrote, “if Cutler keeps waiting and waiting behind a sieve of an offensive line, it won't be long before we see Todd Collins under center.” Boom. Week four. That didn't take long, did it?
Week 5 Picks
Jaguars @ Bills
Giants @ Texans
Chiefs @ Colts
Buccaneers @ Bengals
Packers @ Redskins
Rams @ Lions
Bears @ Panthers
Falcons @ Browns
Broncos @ Ravens
Saints @ Cardinals
Titans @ Cowboys
Chargers @ Raiders
Eagles @ 49ers
Vikings @ Jets
Last week: 11-3
Overall: 41-21
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